Dennis Rodman said it was simply “bullshit” for the former basketball players who traveled with him to North Korea in January to play an exhibition game for Kim Jong-un’s birthday to claim they had thought they were going to play for charity.

Rodman said he paid the players $30,000 to $35,000 out of his own pocket.

Former NBA players, Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, Vin Baker, Craig Hodges, Doug Christie and Charles Smith traveled with Rodman and many had documented financial problems. Here is the relevant portion of the transcript from Rodman’s interview with DuJour magazine:

DJ: So you put a group together of seven retired NBA players and brought them over. Afterward, some of the players say they were misled about the trip. They thought they were going to play for charity. Is that true?

DR: Bullshit. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. They knew.

DJ: And they got paid…

DR: Who paid ‘em? I paid ‘em! I paid them before they went over there.